The Rural Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Initiative (RWEI) delivered two business development trainings this fall in partnership with WISCAP agencies, as part of a shared mission to support the start up of new businesses in rural Wisconsin. 

In October, RWEI delivered a business law basics clinic in partnership with CAP Services in at Mid-State Technical College in Stevens Point, attended by eight entrepreneurs. In December, RWEI delivered a business development cohort in partnership with the Western Dairyland Economic Opportunity Council and Western Wisconsin Women’s Business Center, attended by ten entrepreneurs. The training began with a presentation about how to start a business, then a presentation about business law led by the Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic, followed by individual consultations with attorney Jeff Glazer. The entrepreneurs in the cohort are working on many different types of businesses: mortgage brokerage, rustic cabin rental, estate sales and auctions, event planning, property management, a plant nursery, life coaching, and postpartum care. 

RWEI is a three-year program funded by the Office of Rural Prosperity/Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and runs through 2026. Many business development activities are already underway for 2025 and your community is encouraged to request programming from Extension’s Community Economic Development Program to help build an entrepreneurial ecosystem across rural Wisconsin.

Contact Maggie Cornelius, Outreach Specialist for the Rural Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Initiative, at mmcornelius@wisc.edu.